bird feeder craft

I had a crafty get together a couple of weeks ago to create this sweet bird feeder for Valentine's day. I saw the tutorial for the love of birds on Alpha Mom's website. 14 kids and their mamas came to our house which made for a very energetic afternoon. 

The bird feeders were simple enough to setup and create and after spending some time in the freezer to harden they were ready for hanging. They looked awesome hung on our tree.  However, it just didn't work and I think our sunny climate is to blame.  Once the feeders defrosted the heart slipped off the twin and fell apart.  In a colder climate these would probably stay solid enough to hang.   Oh well, you win some you lose some. We had a good time making them so, it's all good.

vintage inspired sparkle

I have been awfully quite on this blog lately, sorry about that.  I think all the hustle and bustle of the holidays finally caught up with me and I have been in a state of creative rebellion.  Not in a good "thinking out of a box" rebellion but, in a "can't seem to get started on anything" rebellion.

So, with that said I am trying to pull myself out of my "rut" so to speak.  One of my creative goals for this year is to utilize the random stash of supplies I have.  The first thing that spoke to me from my bead stash was this vintage inspired brooch / pendant.  It is one of the most sparkly things in my bead box and what better way to perk myself up then to get sparkly, right?!  I paired it with some simple black seed beads and fire polish beads for pops of sparkle throughout the necklace.

I have been wondering if I should have used larger beads in the necklace to balance it or if the contrast of the large pendant and small beads works nicely, what do you think?

treasure hunt: make a statement

Make a Statement Treasury on Etsy

Re-purposed vintage and vintage inspired brooches and flowers are a gorgeous way to make statement!

treasure hunt: a cloud that floats

A cloud that floats treasury on Etsy

Fleecy cloud that floats in azure,
Floats above in ethereal blue ...
~ by: Watie W. Swanzy

cha: make it take it madness

Teaching make-it-take-its in the Soft Flex Company booth

I went to the Craft and Hobby Association Conference and Trade Show in Los Angeles last weekend to work in Soft Flex Company's booth.  While there I could not help but take in all the awesomeness that is CHA. It was my first time there and my coworkers thought my enthusiasm was pretty cute.  It was an exciting place to be afterall, beautiful booths inspiring you with new products, new techniques, over the top artful ideas that really stretch your imagination, live demos and make-it-take-its - wowza! I was totally caught up in madness of it all.  So what did I make?  So many things!

Made wire wrapped key chains at the Soft Flex Company booth introducing our new Soft Flex Craft Wire line.

Decorated a small storage container at the Everything Mary booth.

Learned how to create this charming flower clip at the Blumenthal Lansing booth.

Made a necklace at the Plaid booth where they introduced their new geode pendants.

Learned leather stamping at the GCD Studios booth.

Learned how to solder this filigree ring at the Simply Swank booth. 

Embossed plain metal Vintaj pendants at the Sizzix booth.

Super cool long necklace made at the Tim Holtz booth.

Learned to needle felt this sweet little flower at the Back to Back Fiber Products booth.

Made this sweet, no sew folio at the I Love to Create booth.

Decorated a plain canvas apron with fabric markers at the I Love to Create booth.

Made my first envelope book with some spray paints and glitters at the Hampton Art booth

Here is the side of the book  The envelopes create little pockets to store keepsakes.

Lastly, I tried some new glitter paint and stencils at the Plaid booth. My face says it all, I was high on crafts!

art masterpiece: kandinsky

Improvisation 35 by Wassily Kandinsky, 1914

Last year I became an Art Masterpiece guide at my son's school. Art Masterpiece is an art appreciation program offered to elementary students by parent volunteers. Basically, art history for kids ... awesome! The goal is to help students look, think and talk about great works of art. As a guide, I lead 20 minute discussions about assigned prints of famous paintings once every two weeks.

Friday was my first day in Ethan's 1st grade class .We discussed Kandinsky! What a great artist to start with. We had such a good time looking at the artwork and expressing our thoughts and feelings. I told them a little about the artist but, mostly I ask open ended questions and let the kids speak. 

Improvisation 35 by Wassily Kandinsky

About the Artist
Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian painter. He was fascinated and excited by color as a child. He is the first artist to create art that doesn’t look like real life.

What feeling do you get when you look at it?  Happy and weird where the two biggest responses. I think they felt a bit weird seeing something that didn't appear to be anything … there is no right answer and it is different for everyone.

The name of the artwork is Improvisation 35, what does the word “improvise” mean? To create something without thinking about it, spontaneous. This idea baffled some kids. Most thought it would be fun to create art like this but, a couple thought it would be hard to create art without thinking about it first.

What do we call art that doesn’t look like real life? Abstract.  

What do you see in this painting?  They kids really had fun with this one.  They saw fish, dragons, clouds, storms and the list went on.  We turned the artwork in all directions to see how it looked upside down and sideways.  They loved giving their input and seeing it from different angles.

Then I held up these words and we talked a bit about each one ...

Abstract - Art that does not look like real life.  Kandinsky was the first abstract painter.

Color - Kandinsky used color to describe what he was feeling and to make his viewers feel emotion. He has said "Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with its many chords. The artist is the hand that, by touching this or that key, sets the soul vibrating automatically." 

Music - Kandinsky was a musician, he played cello and piano. He was trying to create the same effect on a viewer of his paintings as a beautiful piece of music has on a listener. He has said "I applied streaks and blobs of colors onto the canvas with a palette knife, and I made them sing with all the intensity I could ..."

What do you think Kandinsky's painting is about? Color, music and feelings.

Because I think this program is so cool, I enjoy learning about artists and their work and am amazed by the kids insight and what they express I'll be sharing my experience with you all, my lovely readers.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

painting in progress, tree of life

 

This painting is LONG overdue and it feels so nice to finally be working on it.  My husband and I made a cast of my belly bump when I was 8 months pregnant with my now 6 year old son Ethan.  I always knew I wanted to paint it but, it is such an important piece of art to me that I was afraid to start it. Unclear of what I wanted to create I hung the plain plaster cast our wall for 6 years.

In 2010, I completed my belly bump painting of my second son, Hudson who is now 4 years old.  After finishing Hudson's painting, Ethan was a little sad that his belly bump art had yet to be painted and I knew that it was time to give it some thought.  I wanted something that represented life, and I love trees and tree art so, the tree of life symbol just felt right.  I finally started working on the painting today.  I was a little fearful getting started (that really is the hardest part isn't it?) but, once I got going the painting flowed and this is where I left off after today's painting session ...

Have you commemorated something special in your life through your art? If so, I'd love to hear about it, feel free to add a link to it on your blog or website too!

2011 printable calendar

I created a sweet little free 2011 Calendar over at Soft Flex Company's website for you to download, print and display. Each month features a beautiful free beading project idea by Jamie Hogsett. Project instructions for each design can be found in their free beading project ideas section online.

Calendar is a printable PDF file optimized to print onto 8.5 x 11 inch card stock and is for personal use only, not intended for commercial use. Click to download your free 2011 Calendar..

Many wishes for a very Happy New Year!

a creative odyssey

This post is my contribution to the Creative Odyssey Blog Hop. During December, over 40 bloggers will be sharing their creative dreams and goals for 2011 and today, along with The Personal Blog of Tracey Sawatzky and PeachHoneyLove, I am sharing mine.

For those new here, welcome! I'm Kristen, wife to a very supportive husband and mother of two energetic little boys ages 4 and 6. I work from home full-time as a graphic designer, teach drawing to elementary kids twice a week and spend the rest of my time at Creative Stash where I freelance small business graphics, design wedding invitations and create as a mixed media artist.  Life is bursting at the seams but, I love it, I really do.

This quote resonates with me as 2010 comes to a close.  It has been a wonderful year of creating, exploring, blogging and growing! Almost too good really, this quote helps me think that 2011 will, in fact, be better!

My Goals for 2011 ...

Keep an Open Mind

I love to learn and grow and change.  This year however, I struggled with whether I wanted to do one thing really well or whether I wanted to keep the creative path open. I know deep down that I want that path open. So this year, I want to work on be comfortable with the fact that I may never be "one great thing" and to stop beating myself up over it. Just do what feels right and you'll be fine, better then fine even.

Make More Art
Like many of us, I want to make the time to create more art for myself and with my children. An art journal to channel ideas and create without expectations will no doubt help me cultivate my style and my story. I also want to use my current mix of supplies and recycled items to create beautiful things. I want to expand upon my current product lines, market my graphic design services and create with canvas in new ways.

Stay Involved
Through joining an Etsy team, social media sites, the Creative Every Day challenge and The Meetup goal sharing group,  I have made wonderful friendships with many talented and passionate people.  I want to continue to connect and support this amazing creative community!


Overall Well Being
Well, an important issue for me to address is that I tend to work for the sake of working. My work is my passion and  I am most happiest when I'm making things, but there are times when I get swept up in working and I cannot concentrate on anything else and that has to change. I need to keep my life in balance. I must be present with my family, have more fun, enjoy the moment and ease up on worrying about my to do list. Taking care of my overall well being through creative fun, yoga, dance, eating and sleeping well will all help me achieve a calmer, happier existence. 

Cheers to a very Happy and Creative New Year!

christmas greetings

Wishing you the Merriest of Christmas's and the Happiest of New Years!

A big THANK YOU to my wonderful readers and friends for helping to make 2010 an extraordinary year! Your visits, comments and support are greatly appreciated and mean a lot to me. It has been amazing to meet so many new friends. I just love this bloggy blog world and feel blessed to be a part of it!  May your holiday season be magical! xoxo